The Swedish one-man-band Vanhelga has been active since '03, and this is it's third demo of highly Norway-influenced Black Metal. Similar to the previous demo, this one also consists of compositions from the band's early days that have been (re-)recorded later on. The man behind the band felt that this material was still essential to Vanhelga despite it being out-dated, and had to be released in order for him to be able to fully focus on working on and releasing completely new material. This demo and the previous one also form a thematic line; "Enslaved by God" was about realizing that life is an illusion, and this demo is about proceeding from that state of slavery.
It seems that Vanhelga has gone forward a lot since the last demo, as "Disembowel the Illusion" sounds very balanced. The music has the same basic style; riff-driven and highly Norway-influenced Black Metal with a good amount of harsh distortion in the backing guitars, which create the songs' basic riffs and pulse along with the bass guitar that's there to support the guitars, with some clean and even acoustic guitars on top of them serving as the main providers of tremolos, melody, and a slight melancholic feel. The vocals are low croaks and growling shouts, and present the lyrics rather audibly if one really focuses on them as they're rather back in the mix. The hellish distortion the vocals had on the previous demo is luckily gone, leaving them sounding natural but still raw. The drums are programmed ones, and even though their fills and sounds are very decent and fitting to the songs, and don't even bother the listener if s/he doesn't really focus on them, they still sound artificial and powerless in comparison to the demo's overall natural soundscape. They don't give the songs the drive they would need.
One can notice that the songs have been put together with care and talent. They vary from fast blasting to even slow acoustic-only parts with ease, and the harsh distorted guitars are teamed up rather nicely with the melody-providing clean ones. The end result is both raging and atmospheric, it's main feat being how naturally these two sides have been put together; despite all the variation, the demo has a constant atmosphere.
The atmosphere comes with quite a cost, though: it gives the demo a slight flat feel, as the whole lacks in clear high and low points. The whole release is too attuned to it's comfort zone, so even though it has a stable good quality throughout it, with even some almost unnoticeable small spices thrown in to reward the listener, it doesn't get to really lift off. One other negative thing it the release's dull fadeout-end, which does the demo no justice.
The demo shows a great leap forward by the artist, and manages to actually present a good image of the band's own style. If the band manages to replace the plastic drums with real drums and their organic sound, and focuses on really bringing out the songs' many dimensions, there's no knowing how great the next release will be. Making the vocals really add to the compositions wouldn't hurt either. Bonus points are awarded for the multi-dimensional, natural and pleasantly harsh guitar sound. I would give some minus points for the release's dull visual side, but the cheap price and the artist's aim on putting the listener's focus on the music only erase them. Do note that a rawer mix of the demo will be released later on tape by the same label.